Fremantle is knee-deep in the club’s first finals series since 2015 and there’s plenty of optimism surrounding the men in purple for the coming years.
But in just a few weeks, plenty of hype could fall away with the trade period having the potential to leave a sour taste for supporters.
Up to four Dockers are set to depart during October, with Blake Acres, Rory Lobb, Griffin Logue and Lloyd Meek all strongly linked to rival clubs.
It’s a tough balancing act for Justin Longmuir, who admitted as much when questioned that it “must be challenging” on Sportsday.
“Yeah, it is a little bit challenging. I think for a lot of players, it’s not just being at a successful club, it’s about maximising their opportunities in footy,” Longmuir began.
“A lot of these guys, especially ‘Meeky’ (Meek), are probably seeing themselves down the depth chart a little bit.
“A bit of that conversation comes from opportunity, which I fully understand.
“That’s our job as a club to make sure we sell the opportunity to those players, so we’re doing that behind the scenes.”
Acres and Logue appear likely to seek moves to Victorian clubs, Lobb is heavily linked with the Western Bulldogs and Meek is believed to be attracting interest from GWS.
Despite the conundrum of the on-the-outer quartet, the Dockers have secured Alex Pearce and Bailey Banfield for the coming seasons after the duo re-signed recently.
Top-10 2021 draft picks Jye Amiss and Neil Erasmus have also inked extensions early.
Longmuir believes that’s the predominant mindset throughout his playing group.
“We’ve re-signed a lot of players at our club and a lot of young players see a really strong future here,” he continued.
“To be honest, I think that’s the majority. We’ll work through the guys that are out of contract, and we’re still hoping that we can present them good opportunities to continue their careers here.”
It’s not all doom and gloom for the Dockers in the upcoming trade period, however, with Melbourne’s Luke Jackson considered all but certain to seek a move to the Western Australian club.
The Dockers cross the Nullabor to meet Collingwood at the MCG in a Semi Final on Saturday night, with the winner to face Sydney the following week.